Discover the PRIVATE creative lives of others. Each month an all-star cast of improvisers welcomes one special guest to share art and insights. Their experiences inspired their work, now they inspire hilarious conversation and comedy. Join us for revealing stories, big laughs and grand adventures.

WHEN: 9PM FRIDAY, March 2

WHERE: Monkey bottom 609 Trent Dr Durham, NC

Maureen Sherbondy is a poet and fiction writer from Durham, NC. Her writing is eclectic. Sherbondy’s books range from fairy tale reinventions to divorce and other departures. She has published 9 poetry collections and one short story collection.

PREVIOUS GUESTS

Nick Vandenberg is a multi-instrumenalist/composer and video producer based in Chapel Hill, NC. His music has been heard on the Nickelodeon Network, national radio promotions and in films at the Sundance Film Festival and La Biennale di Venezia and has created videos for clients including CounterTobacco.org, the City of Lawrence, MA, and Behance.

Seamus Kenney is the founder of Durham’s Flash Chorus, a middle school music teacher, and the lead singer and songwriter of SNMNMNM, a band he toured the US extensively with from 2001 to 2007 and many of his songs, like “My Defense” and “Misfit Out of Time” can be found on Youtube, iTunes and Spotify.

Rapper, Singer, Songwriter, Producer, Promoter, Entrepreneur and Marine, “The Real Laww was born to entertain…” Winner of the 2013 Carolina Music Awards for Best Male Hip Hop Artist and 2012 Carolina Music Awards for Video of Year with “International Laww.” The Real Laww has been a force to be reckoned with in the NC Hip Hop scene.

Travis Smith lives in Durham, North Carolina, and works as a bookseller. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Mississippi, his poems have appeared in Little Star, Crazyhorse, Redivider, and Parcel, among other journals. From 2011- 2015, he served as poetry editor of the online literary quarterly Wag’s Revue.(* Circumstances prevented Travis from making a reschedule show. We read his poems anyway. They're great.)

The music of XOXOK is conceived on the fretboard, cradled in headphones, and cultivated at the microphone. Often armed with just an electric guitar, XOXOK delivers a combination of soulful, smooth, and soft tunes laced with unabashed emotion.

Chris Tonelli works in the Libraries at NC State and co-owns So & So Books in downtown Raleigh, where he lives with his wife, Allison, and their two kids, Miles and Vera. He is a founding editor of the independent poetry press, Birds, LLC, and he curates the So & So Series and edits So & So Magazine. In addition to The Trees Around,he is the author of five chapbooks.

Rachel Kiel is a songwriter, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. Drawing on a wide range of musical influences and genres, she writes pop, grunge, country, and rock songs that owe an equal debt to Sonic Youth and Fleetwood Mac. She is currently in the studio completing recording for her third album.

Formed in 2005 as a collaborative project between roommates, Jack the Radio is the brainchild of seasoned songwriters George Hage and A.C. Hill. The soulful blues stomp created by these garage twang rockers is a brilliant blend of styles smashed into one band.

Breadfoot was spawn of the East River Delta. He digs his whiskey neat and his coffee black. He is a one-man band whose idiosyncratic take on life and wide range of influences from The Carter Family and The Sherman Brothers to Tom Waits and X, fuels his unique brand of Tin Pan Americana.

The Birdhorse is led by Kansas-born, North Carolina-based singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Toni Hartley and produced and co-performed by Bobby Funk. Birdhorse's music is like eavesdropping on the passionate and playful conversations of new lovers, from euphoric soul to contemplative folk.

Breadfoot was spawn of the East River Delta. He digs his whiskey neat and his coffee black. He is a one-man band whose idiosyncratic take on life and wide range of influences from The Carter Family and The Sherman Brothers to Tom Waits and X, fuels his unique brand of Tin Pan Americana.

Formed in 2011, Yandrew is the combination of Andrew Anagnost and Yan Westerlund. Westerlund (drums for Bowerbirds, Canine Heart Sounds) and Anagnost (cello for Lost in the Trees, Auburn Kettlel) combine a number of influences, including classical and jazz, in their sound.